cism, which distinguish the Moors from the rest of mankind, found here a proper subject whereon to exercise their propensities. I was a stranger, I was unprotected, and I was a Christian; each of these circumstances is sufficient to drive every spark of humanity from the heart of a Moor; but when all of them, as in my case, were combined in the same person, and a suspicion prevailed withal, that I had come as a shy into the country, the reader will. easily imagine, that in such a situation, I had every thing to fear. Anxious, however, to conciliate favour, and, if possible, to afford the Moors no pretence for ill treating me, I readily complied with every command, and patiently bore every insult; but never did any period of my life pass away so heavily; from sunrise to sunset was I obliged to suffer, with an unruffled countenance, the insult of the rudest savages on earth.

CHAPTER X.

Farious occurrences during the Author's confinement at Benowm; he is visited by some Moorish, ladies. Afuneral and a wedding; he receives an extraordinary present from the bride. Incidents illustrative of the Moorish character and manners.

THE Moors, though very indolent themselves, are rigid task-masters, and keep every person under them in full employment. My boy Demba was sent to the woods to collect withered grass for Ali's horses, and after a variety of projects concerning myself, they at last found out an employment for me; this was no other than the respectable office of barber. I was to make my first exhibition in this capacity in the royal presence, and to be honoured with the task of shaving the head of the young prince of Ludamar:. I accordingly seated myself upon the sand, and the boy, with some hesitation, sat down beside me. A small razor, about three inches long, was put into my hand, and I was or dered to proceed; but whether from my own want of skill, or

the improper shape of the instrument, I unfortunately made a slight incision in the boy's head, at the very commencement of the operation; and the king observing the aukward manner in which I held the razor, concluded that his son's head was in very improper hands, and ordered me to resign the razor, and walk out of the tent. This I considered as a very fortunate circumstance; for I had laid it down as a rule, to make myself as useless and insignificant as possible, as the only means of recovering my liberty.

March 18th. Four Moors arrived from Jarra with Johnson my interpreter, having seized him before he had received any intimation of my confinement, and bringing with them a bundle of clothes that I had left at Daman Jumma's house, for my use in case I should return by the way of Jarra. Johnson was led into Ali's tent and examined; the bundle was opened, and I was sent for, to explain the use of the different articles. I was happy, however, to find, that Johnson had committed my papers to the charge of one of Daman's wives. When I had satisfied Ali's curiosity respecting the different articles of apparel, the bundle was again tied up, and put in a large cow skin bag that stood in a corner of the tent. The same evening Ali sent three of his people to inform me, that there were many thieves in the neighbourhood, and that to prevent the rest of my things from being stolen, it was necessary to convey them all into his tent. My clothes, instruments, and every thing that belonged to me, were accordingly carried away; and though the heat and dust made clean linen very necessary and refreshing, I could not procure a single shirt out of the small stock I had brought along with me. Ali was however disappointed, by not finding among my effects the quantity of gold and amber that he expected; but to make sure of every thing, he sent the same people on the morning following, to examine whether I had any thing concealed about my person. They, with their usual rudeness, searched every part of my apparel, and stripped me of all my gold, amber, my watch, and one of my pocket compasses; I had fortunately, in the night, buried the other compass in the sand; and this, with the clothes I had on, was all that the tyranny of Ali had now left me.

The gold and amber were highly gratifying to Moorish avarice, but the pocket compass soon became an object of superstitious curiosity. Ali was very desirous to be in

formed, why that small piece of iron, the needle, always pointed to the Great Desert; and I found myself somewhat puzzed to answer the question. To have pleaded my ignorance would have created a suspicion that I wished to conceal the real truth from him; I therefore told him, that my mother resided far beyond the sands of Zaharra, and that whilst she was alive, the piece of iron would always point that way, and serve as a guide to conduct me to her, and that if she was dead it would point to her grave. Ali now looked at the compass with redoubled amazement; turned it round and round repeatedly; but observing that it always pointed the same way, he took it up with great caution, and returned it to me, manifesting, that he thought there was something of magic in it, and that he was afraid of keeping so dangerous an instrument in his possession.

March 20th. This morning, a council of chief men was held in Ali's tent respecting me; their decisions, though they were all unfavourable to me, were differently related by different persons. Some said, that they intended to put me to death; others, that I was only to lose my right hand; but the most probable account was that which I received from Ali's own son, a boy about nine years of age, who came to me in the evening, and, with much concern, informed me, that his uncle had persuaded his father to put out my eyes, which they said resembled those of a cat, and that all the Bushreens had approved of this measure. His father, however, he said, would not put the sentence into execution until Fatima the queen, who was at present în the north, had seen me.

March 21st. Anxious to know my destiny, I went to the king early in the morning; and as a number of Bushreens were assembled, I thought this a favourable opportunity of discovering their intentions. I therefore began by begging his permission to return to Jarra, which was flatly refused: His wife, he said, had not yet seen me, and I must stay until she came to Benowm, after which, I should be at liberty to depart; and that my horse, which had been taken away from me the day after I had arrived, should be again restored to me Unsatisfactory as this answer was, I was forced to appear pleased; and as there was little hopes of making my escape at this season of the year, on account of the excessive heat, and the total want of water in the woods, I resolved to wait patiently until the rains had set in, or un

til some more favourable opportunity should present itself;but hope deferred maketh the heart sick; This tedious procrastination from day to day, and the thoughts of travelling through the Negro kingdoms in the rainy season, which was now fast approaching, made me very melancholy; and having passed a restless night, I found myself attacked, in the morning, by a smart fever. I had wrapped myself close up in my cloak, with a view to induce perspiration, and was asleep when a party of Moors entered the hut, and with their usual rudeness pulled the cloak from me. I made signs to them that I was sick, and wished much to sleep; but I solicited in vain; my distress was matter of sport to them, and they endeavoured to heighten it by every means in their power. This studied and degrading insolence, to which I was constantly exposed, was one of the bitterest ingredients in the cup of captivity, and often made life itself a burthen to me. In those distressing moments I have frequently envied the situation of the slave; who, amidst all his calamities, could still possess the enjoyment of his own thoughts; a happiness to which I had, for some time, been a stranger. Wearied out with such continual insults, and perhaps a little peevish from the fever, I trembled lest my passion might unawares overleap the bounds of prudence, and spur me to some sudden act of resentment, when death must be the inevitable consequence. In this perplexity I left my hut, and walked to some shady trees a little distance from the camp, where I lay down. But even here, persecution followed me; and solitude was thought too great an indulgence for a distressed Christian. Ali's son, with a number of horsemen, came galloping to the place, and ordered me to rise and follow them. I begged they would allow me to remain where I was, if it was only for a few hours; but they paid little attention to what I said; and after a few threatening words, one of them pulled out a pistol from a leather bag, that was fastened to the pummel of his saddle, and presenting it towards me, snapped it twice. He did this with so much indifference, that I really doubted whether the pistol was loaded; he cocked it a third time, and was striking the flint with a piece of steel, when I begged them to desist, and returned with them to the camp. When we entered Ali's tent, we found him much out of humour. He called for the Moor's pistol, and amused himself for some time with

opening and shutting the pan; at length, taking up his pow der horn, he fresh primed it; and turning round to me with a menacing look, said something in Arabic, which I did not understand. I desired my boy, who was sitting before the tent, to inquire what offence I had committed; when I was informed, that having gone out of the camp without Ali's permission, they suspected that I had some design of making my escape; and that, in future, if I was seen (without the skirts of the camp, orders had been given that I should be shot by the first person that observed me.

In the afternoon the horizon, to the eastward, was thick and hazy, and the Moors prognosticated a sand wind; which accordingly commenced on the morning following, and lasted, with slight intermissions, for two days. The force of the wind was not in itself very great; it was what a scaman would have denominated a stiff breeze; but the quantity of sand and dust carried before it, was such as to darken the whole atmosphere. It swept along from east to west, in a thick and constant stream, and the air was at times so dark and full of sand, that it was difficult to discern the neighbouring tents. As the Moors always dress their victuals in the open air, this sand fell in great plenty amongst the kouskous; it readily adhered to the skin, when moist ened by perspiration, and formed a cheap and universal hair powder. The Moors wrap a cloth round their face, to prevent them from inhaling the sand, and always turn their backs to the wind when they look up, to prevent the sand falling into their eyes..

About this time, all the women of the camp had their feet, and the ends of their fingers, stained of a dark saffron colour. I could never ascertain whether this was done from motives of religion, or by way of ornament. The cu riosity of the Moorish ladies had been very troublesome to me ever since my arrival at Benowm; and on the evening of the 25th (whether from the instigation of others, or im pelled by their own ungovernable curiosity, or merely out of frolic, I cannot affirm) a party of them came into my hut, and gave me plainly to understand, that the object of their visit was to ascertain, by actual inspection, whether the rite of circumcision extended to the Nazareens (Christians) as as well as to the followers of Mahomet. The reader will easily judge of my surprise at this unexpected declaration; and in order to avoid the proposed scrutiny, I thought it